Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Spring Break Reading

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger. This is funny 6th grade boy humor with a dose of “awwwww” thrown in. Good clean fun and reading for grades 3-6. Girls can certainly read it too!

Dreamer by Pam Munoz-Ryan. This is a lovely, lovely book. Even though it’s written for young people of middle school age, I think adults who love poetry and the poet Pablo Neruda will love this book. Munoz-Ryan writes her own poems , inspired by Neruda, to tie each section of this fictional biography together. Neruda poems are included as well at the end of the story. I didn’t want to leave this book and will read it again. It’s a beauty. Illustrated by the great Peter Sis.

Artemis Fowl by Eowin Colfer….fantasty story of a boy genius gone criminal pulling of the crime of the centuries. Many good laughs the whole way through for grades 3-6. This would be a super summer read aloud for a family.

Rock by Gordon Korman. This is more of a YA novel than middle school. Great story of a HS senior who is president of the young Republicans, 4.0 GPA and has a scholarship to Harvard, BUT discovers his natural father is an infamous punk rocker who he needs to meet and convince pay his bills when the scholarship falls through. Funny and sweet by the end.

Incantation by Alice Hoffman. An incredible historical fiction of the lives of Jews who converted to Christianity to avoid persecution but get caught in the In quisition. A very intense story for middle schoolers.

Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt. The story of a young boy who comes of age during the Civil War. Major battles are described as the war progresses. Tough reading for middle schoolers with a lexile level of 1100 but perfect for their Social Studies curriculum.

I’m now in the middle of Teacher Man by Frank McCort….tough love teacher stories….I keep thinking I’ll stop with this one but there’s just one more good story to get though first.